Democratic Culture – A Community Project
Working together for an inclusive Europe
The project “Democratic Culture – A Community Project” takes place between August 1, 2021 and March 31, 2023 and aims to develop local civic groups to support schools in the counties Alba, Arges, Botosani, Buzau, Gorj, Hunedoara, Maramures and Valcea in the process of developing students’ competences for democratic culture.
Groups of teachers and volunteer citizens will be prepared to implement the innovative civic education methodology “Project Citizen”. These groups will be active for a period of 2 school years within the project, and for an indefinite period after its completion, taking into account the fact that “Project Citizen” is recommended by the Ministry of Education in the curriculum of Education for Democratic Citizenship.
The activities of the students supported by the local civic groups, carried out for periods of 3-4 months, will be materialized in a series of public policy proposals submitted to the local authorities. In addition, students will participate in consultations with decision makers at local and county level.
A media literacy initiative and an awareness raising campaign on the importance of civic involvement will support students in their local projects, but will also have the role of raising awareness among the general public about this topic and promoting students’ projects among other students, young people and adults.
The project is implemented by the Intercultural Institute Timisoara in partnership with the Association for Solidarity, Culture, Education and Development (ASCED) from Ramnicu Sarat and The Human Rights Academy from Oslo, Norway and benefits from a 99,900 euros grant from Active Citizens Fund Romania, programme funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants Grants 2014 -2021. The content of this website does not necessarily reflect the official position of the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021; for more information visit www.eeagrants.org. More details about Active Citizens Fund Romania are available at www.activecitizensfund.ro.
During the school year 2021-2022 a network of volunteers from the 8 counties involved in the project was created. The volunteers and the social education teachers were supported with online courses focused on the innovative method „Project: Citizen”. The online courses also included offering support for the implementation of the activities involved in this method with the VII grade students. At the end of this educational process the students proposed a series of public policy proposals and submitted them to the local authorities. The volunteers also supported teachers in organising the participation of the students to meetings of the Local Councils.
An online national conference of social education was organised between 20-22 May 2022. The teachers held presentations of their pedagogical activities using the method „Project: Citizen”. At this event 77 teachers and volunteers attended.
The project’s activities included a media literacy campaign and an awareness raising campaign regarding the importance of civic participation. More resources are available on the social media page of the Intercultural Institute of Timisoara and on the youtube channel.